The One Dog Training Lesson That Trumps Them All

It was impossible to turn around yesterday without hearing that Donald Trump is running for president.

Facebook was flooded with conversations on this.

I am predicting that he will drop from the race. You see, Trump is in the entertainment business. He developed a brand and pushes it every chance he gets. He has been telling the American public that he is going to run since his first book, “The Art Of The Deal,” in the 1980’s.

At some point he will drop out using his health, family obligations, or some other excuse.

So why would he do this?

Simple. He wants……

……..attention.

Without all the attention he gets we would not know his name as well as we do. Google Trends had his name ranked number 2 yesterday with over one million searches.

He works hard to get it. He has a plan to get attention. He keeps working on it.

And you need to do the same.

You need to work hard to get it.

Have a plan to get it.

And keep working on it with…..

…..your dog.

The real secret to getting your dog to listen to you is attention and engagement. A dog that is fully engaged with you will listen and do the commands you ask for.

Pay attention the next time your dog does not do the command you asked for. Chances are your dog was focused on something other than you.

Since you tune in here every day for my hard hitting, highly educational, personality packed, entertaining emails, I’ll share the secret sauce with you.

Getting your dog’s attention is about removing options and rewarding the behavior.

The first step is to clearly reward your dog for paying attention.

The best way to do this is by using a marker. A marker is a clicker or a word that has been classically conditioned with a primary reinforcer.

Which means that you use a word like “YES” and pair it with food. You repeat this enough times and your dog will hear the word “YES” and associate it with the food.

This will help you communicate to your dog what you want them to do.

The next step is to start with non-distracting places and teach your dog to look at you and give attention.

You would then work up to more difficult areas with your dog on leash, teaching them that the best option is focusing on you.

So remember today’s lesson:

1. Trump will never make it to election day because he will drop out.
2. Develop a training plan to teach your dog attention.
3. The best way to start is by teaching a marker.
4. Start in a low distraction area.
5. Work up to more distractions.
6. Teach your dog that paying attention to you is always the best option.

That’s it for today. Go forth and train.

BTW – if you’re looking for more dog training tips and help, check out the Dog Training Inner Circle. You can get in for just $1.00 which is such an amazing deal I should run for president.